When transporting a load on a vehicle and especially on a vehicle roof, a load carrier is suitably mounted to carry the load. Such load carriers are previously known in the form of, for instance, roof racks and are available in different designs. Roof racks of a traditional type are mounted on the vehicle roof, for instance, on the drip molding of the vehicle. An inconvenience of such roof racks is that it is difficult to load and unload cargo. An attempt to eliminate this inconvenience is to design the roof rack so that parts thereof can be pulled out sideways or backwards relative to the direction of travel of the car and be lowered so as to improve accessibility. Prior-art roof racks which have this function are, however, often complicated and bulky and catch a great deal of wind, among other things because a large number of parts are required for the interconnection of the movable parts. A large number of parts may have negative consequences from an economic perspective since, for instance, the cost of manufacture will be higher by the parts themselves constituting a cost and by the fact that they must be assembled. Furthermore this type of construction may imply that the roof rack will have a greater weight, which is negative since it will be heavier work for the user, for instance, to fit and remove the roof rack. This may in turn result in the user hesitating to mount the roof rack at all. In addition, this construction may cause greater wear and require replacement or mending of parts.
As mentioned above, it may be an inconvenience of prior-art roof racks that they are bulky. From an aerodynamic perspective, this usually results in a lower mileage and a higher noise level. These two effects may further add to the user deciding not to use his roof rack to the extent that would otherwise occur. Noise also disturbs the vehicle driver and may make him exhausted, which during long trips may increase the risk of an accident. Since roof racks are often bulky, they can also make it difficult for the vehicle to pass through low openings, such as garage doors or gates to an inner yard. Especially if a high load is placed on the roof rack, the point of gravity of the vehicle may also be raised, which again may increase the risk of an accident.
The object of the invention is to at least partly eliminate the above inconveniences.